Woman found dead on I-75 in Detroit had been involved in ongoing child custody dispute

February 12, 2013

Detroit Free Press Staff Writers

Jennifer Scavone's friends and co-workers say she was a kind, uplifting woman and a good mother. But early Saturday, just after leaving her waitressing job in downtown Detroit, the 32-year-old was gunned down as she drove on I-75 toward home.

While authorities continued Monday to investigate the slaying of the Sterling Heights woman, details on a Macomb County custody case with the father of one of her two children emerged.

Scavone had sought to have Josef Zbercot's visitation rights terminated after he was charged last summer with sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy in Erie County, Ohio, court records show.

Zbercot of Roseville was indicted by an Erie County grand jury on two counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of assault, according to Erie County Common Pleas Court records. Zbercot had a court date in Ohio on Friday, according to records filed last month in the custody case in Macomb County Circuit Court. A jury trial is set for later this month.

The prosecutor in Erie County could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

Scavone's body was found slumped over the steering wheel of her GMC Yukon on the left shoulder of northbound I-75 between Leland and Warren, about a quarter-mile east of the Detroit Medical Center. A Michigan Department of Transportation courtesy van driver found Scavone about 3:40 a.m. after he approached the SUV to see whether the driver needed help.

Michigan State Police said the SUV had been struck by several bullets, but didn't know whether the vehicle was moving or stopped when it was fired upon.

Her autopsy found she had multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office.

On Monday afternoon, State Police Lt. Michael Shaw said no one was in custody. He declined to discuss specifics about the case.

Scavone was shot not long after she left her job at Bouzouki, a gentleman's club in the Greektown area. Heather Raye, a manager at the club, said she saw Scavone walk to her vehicle after leaving work about 2:30 a.m. and headed home.

"We're very confident in the fact that what happened to her had nothing to do with her work environment or with the downtown area," Raye said, adding she believes her friend was targeted.

Raye said Scavone was loved at work and was "a great mom." She said Scavone and her fiancé had recently purchased a home with plans of building a life together.

"She was a really great person. She was kind and sweet, very uplifting," Raye said. "She just made you feel really good to be around her."

Members of Scavone's family could not be reached for comment. Attorneys for Scavone and Zbercot did not return calls for comment.

The custody case in Macomb County dates to 2003, when Scavone complained that Zbercot failed to provide child support for their son, who was born in 2001. The court granted her request. She had sole custody, but Zbercot had parenting time and had to pay $174 a month in child support.

Later that year, Scavone filed a motion requesting an alternative drop-off location for parenting time exchanges. Scavone alleged that Zbercot was physically and verbally abusive to her throughout their relationship and that he punched, hit and strangled her and referred to her as "slut," "whore" and "bitch" in front of the child at parenting time exchanges.

Last August, Scavone filed a motion requesting a change in parenting time.

In a handwritten note, Scavone said she would like the court to suspend and/or terminate rights and parenting time until the investigation in Erie County was over and the outcome of any criminal charges was known. She wrote that the case was in the hands of a prosecutor in Ohio, where the incident occurred.

In September, Zbercot responded, requesting Scavone be held in contempt of court for denying access to his son and that he be awarded makeup parenting time since Aug. 1, 2012.